Ideas Freshly Leaked From My Mind

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The Killing Joke. Written by Alan Moore. Drawn by Brian Bolland. Published by DC Comics. Hated by many. Loved by many more.

It’s about to be adapted into a direct to DVD animated feature for probably a PG-13 audience featuring Mark Hamill coming out of retirement (he quit voicing the Joker during the Arkham Games) to voice his iconic role as the Joker, and Kevin Conroy wants to voice the Batman! It’s a comic fan’s wet dream. So why are so many people up in arms against it?

The controversy over The Killing Joke has been abuzz in the background probably since its publication. It is often cited as the best Batman story, best Joker story, and a major turning point for the classic Barbara Gordon Batgirl. That last one is where the controversy comes in.

If you haven’t read it, please do so before finishing this article. It’s okay, I’ll wait.

You see, the Joker escapes Arkham to prove to Batman that all it takes is one bad day to reduce the sanest man alive to lunacy. We also get to see a possible origin story for the Joker. While many theories have been done and many more are still coming out, this one is the fan favorite that tops the list. This origin story sees the Joker as a family man left widowed and childless.

To accomplish his goal, he invades the apartment of Commissioner James Gordon, where his daughter, Barbara, is over for a visit. When the Joker rings the doorbell, Barbara answers the door. The Joker shoots Barbara while his goons subdue James. After James is dragged off, the Joker begins to unbutton the injured Barbara’s blouse. It should be noted that he was wearing a camera around his neck. Everything else that happens is implied, as we switch immediately to the next scene and don’t see Barbara again until she is visited by Batman in the hospital. It is assumed that some form of sexual assault occurred.

As it turns out, Jim Gordon is the “sane man” that he’s trying to drive mad. To accomplish this, Jim is beaten, stripped, humiliated, bound, walked on a leash, and sent through the Joker’s darkride which has been lined with nude pictures of Barbara lying in her own blood.

Batman comes and saves the day, Jim Gordon does not succumb, etc. In the course of the book, Jim Gordon is expected to just shake off his trauma and in later books, he is back to business as usual. What happens to Barbara? That’s where things get good.

As The Killing Joke was set up in a way where it could’ve been ignored as non-canonical, DC had options. They could have just pretended it didn’t happen (the most likely course), they could’ve dropped Barbara from the books, or they could’ve just left her as a librarian (her day job) in a wheelchair. They went for the unexpected. Gail Simone wrote excellent stories while consulting Dr. Andrea Letamendi which explored Barbara’s PTSD and eventually turned the wheelchair-bound Barbara into a new type of crimefighter, Oracle.

Basically DC said, what happened stuck. Barbara was scarred and came back stronger than before. She was no longer just a two-dimensional extension of a male legacy hero. She was now carving out a new path for herself.

Many people laud DC and Gail Simone for the Oracle storylines in one breath, and decry The Killing Joke in the next. Don’t they see how hypocritical that is? You cannot have Oracle without The Killing Joke! We all wish that tragedies didn’t happen, but they do. And it is what we do with that tragedy that forges us. If we are to create relateable characters, so too it must be for them.

Many cry out, “But not that! You cannot depict sexual assualt! That’s insensitive to the victims!” Here’s the funny thing about that: to date, not one person raising that cry that I have heard has come out as a rape victim. Also, during Twitter’s #changethecover controversy, many rape victims came out in SUPPORT of The Killing Joke. One such survivor is Piper Steed, who was very publicly vocal and open in #changethecover about her own rape experience, the recovery, her PTSD, and how The Killing Joke HELPED HER COPE. Note: she cited The Killing Joke. While the subsequent Oracle storyline was instrumental, it was The Killing Joke that she credited with helping her. It was one of her prized possessions that she regretted having to leave behind when she moved, it was one of her favorite gifts she recieved, she wanted to buy the sadly cancelled variant cover homage to it, and she is stoked about the upcoming adaptation.

There should be NO trauma that is off the table for a writer to use. If we do not depict the adversity, how then can we depict the triumph over it? Every story is built on some form of conflict. Characters are defined by how much they overcome. Who wants to limit the strength of a character? By limiting the obstacles depicted, one limits how much the character’s strength can be built, tested, and/or displayed.

“But you can’t display that kind thing against women!” Yeah, you can. Not only that, but such stories MUST exist if for no other reason than it has helped many real women deal with similar problems. It is a tool for depicting strong women and empowering them later. Besides, are we to gloss over what happened to Jim Gordon in the story? Or Jason Todd in A Death In The Family? “But they had agency! That’s different!” I’ve yet to encounter anyone who can explain to me the “agency” that those two male characters had and Barbara didn’t. And no, male does not automatically equal “agency”.

There are many classic, powerful stories out there that depict the worst this world has to offer. They are also the stepping stones by which the best the world has to offer can be presented. For the very best that this world has to offer is not in the good times, or the dull times, it is in the darkest of moments that the best shines through. That is why we cannot limit what kinds of violence, or difficulties, or means, or charater types, or ANYTHING else a writer may use! Sure, we could conceiveably limit the offensive material, if we could all agree on what’s offensive. But the moment we do, we remove not only the extremities of putrid crap that can be written, but the best that can be written as well. Any experience that has been had, and any experience never had that can be dreamt, all of these MUST be able to be depicted in ANY medium. You never know who could benefit.

I got on Twitter shortly after starting this blog to promote it. Naturally, I began following comics creators on it.

To date, I know of three that have blocked me. I only owe one an apology. An apology that should have been given long before now.

You know how tone doesn’t always come across in text, so the reader will often project their own tone on it? This incident involves that.

It was during the big Ebola scare. Noelle Stevenson (of LumberJanes fame) was tweeting about how she was stuck on an airplane being held on the runway due to a patient that may or may not have Ebola. The plane was stuck for hours.

Keep in mind my own reactions. I know that Ebola is transmitted via contact with infected bodily fluids. I think (not sure) that HIV is transmitted in a similar manner. Therefore, chances of catching it are not high. I don’t tend to freak out about stuff like that unless I don’t feel well.

I read her tweets as having no panic and all of the annoyance of waiting in line at the DMV. I prefer humor, bad puns in particular, when I am in that type of situation. So I tweeted, “Ebola’d a strike, but I keep getting gutterballs…”.

Noelle tweeted back in shock as to why I would make such a joke. I tried a tweet to explain that humor helps me in those situations. Her response was much less than enthusiastic. I dropped the subject.

A while later, someone retweeted something from her that I liked. I tried to fav it. Twitter said I couldn’t. I tried to retweet. Again, no avail. So I clicked Noelle’s profile pic. Twitter brought up a message saying that the profile I was trying to view had blocked me.

I was puzzled. What had I done to be blocked? The only thing I could think of was the joke. Was it really that bad? It took me awhile for it to dawn on me from a different perspective. Much longer, I confess, than it should have. That is the only block that has bugged me to date. I meant to apologize months ago, but how?

I really was a dummy. It just dawned on me today that I have a blog. I could write an open apology in the hopes that some reader will forward it to @Gingerhazing to tell her that @theleakymind sends his apologies for a stupidly insensitive moment.

So, if you are reading this, I apologize to you. Noelle Stevenson, I understand if you do not wish to lift the block, but I hope you will.

Like this:

Hi there.
I have of course heard of Gotham arriving to your network this fall. Congratulations. As a Batman fan, I look forward to it.
That being said, I have a concern. Your history with science fiction.
Science fiction is one of the many genres from which superhero stories draw root. It is also a genre you have not handled well.
I understand, the numbers for the first seasons of Firefly and Almost Human were not to your liking. Maybe, then, you simply don’t realize one important fact regarding science fiction. You can never judge by first season numbers. You need to commit to a minimum of two seasons and compare the numbers between the two. It takes that long to build the audience.
A large risk, I know. But look at the benefits. Science fiction audiences are loyal. They’ll give a show a few episodes chance to recover from a misstep. They are also avid consumers. Before dvd made seasons practical, Star Trek: The Next Generation fans bought the complete series on vhs. Seasons, collectibles and branded gear of all price ranges, these are more popular among fans of sci-fi and superheroes than any other genre. Surely you can see the profit there.
If that is a risk you are unwilling to take, I understand. But look at Firefly. It got a movie and a comics series from dark horse. Fans are buying the series and the merchandise. I expect similar from Almost Human.
You will do as you see fit, of course. I can only offer the recommendation of either committing to a two season minimum on all sci-fi and superhero shows or avoiding the genres entirely.
Good luck with your future endeavors, and I shall be tuning in for Gotham.

I have seen outcry for more realistic bodytypes in comic book superheroines for years. (Let’s just ignore how unrealistic the male bodytypes are for this article) Problem is, most people who complained didn’t actually want to DO anything about it themselves. As for those who did? The ones I’ve seen need to learn the definition of realistic. One guy thought a more realistic Batgirl was 300 pounds wearing a bikini, mask, and cape. Yeah, no. She runs across rooftops all night beating up bad guys. She ain’t morbidly obese.

Well it looks like DC is going to deliver. Not only is her bodytype closer to a normal person in decent shape, but her costume is far more practical as well. We’ll play wait-and-see with the writing, but the redesign is a step in the right direction. Now if only they’d fix their mistakes with Harley Quinn and the Joker.

There are other bodytypes to cover, of course. But I’d like to know what you think. Tell me in the comments!

Dark Horse Comics and Nickelodeon bring us Avatar. I’m not all that familiar with the character. The art carries the same level of stylization that I’ve come to expect from kid’s titles. The story is where this book really shines. Comics fandom was once dominated by men. As the demographic shifts and the audience for comics grows, the old-style audience has caused unnecessary growing pains. This story brilliantly illustrates how the bullied old guard has become the bully and how to deal with it.

The itty bitty Hellboy short seems to ape what I’ve seen from DC kid’s offerings. Funny though.

Not sure I get Juice Squeezers, but it was a laugh.

Overall, recommend.

Raising a Reader!

The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund threw in Raising a Reader! : How Comics & Graphic Novels Can Help Your Kids Love To Read! This is one for the parents. It begins with an explanation of what comics can give to kids. The entire work is short and surprisingly in-depth for such brief sections. It’s mostly a text piece, with scattered illustration. I’d have preferred to see it done as a comic itself. The next section deals with how to navigate a comics page. For those few who don’t find comics reading instinctive, it explains the basics quite clearly. Then we are given information on how to use comics in solo reading, reading aloud, as book club selections, and as a multi-literacy dialogue. In Graphic Novels and Learning, we see how they can be incorporated into learning curriculum. I wouldn’t use how they easily answer Common Core mandates as a shining example of their educational potential, but my misgivings with Common Core are for another post. There is not only info for parents, but teachers as well.

Recommend!

Hello Kitty and Friends

I’ve heard of Sanrio and their flagship character, Hello Kitty. I’ve never heard of Perfect Square, the publisher. Flight is a nice testament to imagination as Hello Kitty tries to alleviate rainy day boredom. The Amazing journey is a preschool equivalent to The Magic School Bus exploration of the digestive system. Not recommended for education, just entertainment. The remaining Hello Kitty stories are drivel. Seriously, not worth the read. The Bravest Warriors art included seem to be a pair of Waldo-esque pages requiring foreknowledge of the characters. Which I lack.

Recommend? Only if you’re under 5.

Bongo Comics Free-For-All 2014

I’m not a Simpsons fan, yet the Bongo Free-For-All never fails to entertain. Bongo Comics includes the usual assortment of fake ads for parody purposes. Its like Simpsons meets Wacky Packs.

We start with a Simpsons story titled With Great Power… (apparently Bongo likes giving Marvel approval). Bart and Milhouse are reading comics in a treehouse. The art is better than the series, but that doesn’t take much. The boys try out variations on the well known origin stories in an attempt to gain superpowers. Milhouse, as always, get the short end of the shtick. The moral is, kids have superpowers when compared to adults.

Agent Vs Agent is very meta. They parody a satire magazine that used to parody itself. Feel free to pause as you process that.

Another Simpsons short is Mr. Burns to the Rescue. Smithers is missing and Mr. Burns must search for him through the untold bowels of Burns Manor. As we see, I’m not the only one to use “kerfluffle”.

Krustyburger Konfidential actually has worse art than the show ever did! How?!

Then we end on Synchronicity For Two. An elegant title. I always enjoy their riffs on Dr. Strange. I’m surprised that there were no Futurama shorts this year. Ah, well.

Recommend.

Captain Comic Book

Holy sequential images, Captain Comic Book! This one is brought to us by Operation Comic Book.

We get the obligatory superpowered origin story of a guy who can call on any ability of any comic hero. A banker is put in charge of handling the estate sale of a Master Sorcerer. Among the unearthly trinkets is a box of comics. The banker is an avid comics reader, and since his boss doesn’t find the comics to be worth selling, he gets to take the books home with him. Turns out, they are enchanted. As he reads through the box, he gains the power of each hero. As the book was sponsored by a Rotary Club, the Four-Way test is outlined.

Recommended.

Buck Rogers

Hp put up a book of reprints featuring the newspaper strips of Buck Rogers. Fitting tribute to the origins of comic books and graphic novels. There are some sample pages in the back of a new upcoming Buck Rogers line.

There is no doubt that the character of Harley Quinn has become a major fan favorite. It’s not hard to see why. Harley is a very layered character.

I should probably start off with the fact that I neither am, nor do I desire to be, familiar with DC’s New 52. This is probably a relief to many Harley fans who have been critical of the New 52 take on Dr. Quinzel.

Harley Quinn was created for Joker’s Favor, an episode of Batman: The Animated Series (referred to by fans as Batman TAS). I find it interesting that she was originally intended to be a disposable character, much like her beloved Mistah J (The Joker). Given that the Joker is very much involved with Harley’s origin, he and his relationship to Batman bear a detailed overview in this article.

The Joker is undoubtedly Batman’s opposite number. Batman was created to be a lasting follow-up to the success of Superman, the Joker was meant to be a disposable villain du jour. Batman’s origin and mission are clear cut, the Joker has many pre-acid origin stories and his mission known only to himself. Many of these origins include tragedy, particularly the fan-favorite presented in The Killing Joke. For the purposes of this article, The Killing Joke shall be the Joker’s true origin given that it was confirmed pre-New 52 by the Riddler in Batman: Gotham Knights # 54. In The Killing Joke, we find out that the Joker was widowed in his defining tragedy. Please note that his late wife bears some resemblance to Harley. Approximate height, approx. weight, both are blonde, etc. This will come up later. Both men have opposite responses to their respective tragedies. Batman becomes a dark, grim, and serious protector in almost demonic garb. The Joker becomes a bright, happy, and seemingly flippant criminal mastermind. Batman won’t kill, the Joker is a mass murderer. The difference in these approaches could lie in the details of their circumstances.

Batman was a child who saw his parents die in a senseless and random crime. The Joker is a father who lost his wife and unborn child in a series of events resulting from his own bad choices (provided we take the Riddler’s account over the baby bottle warmer incident). We even see in the Flashpoint series what Batman would be if Thomas Wayne saw Bruce die instead. Batman had the leavening influence of Alfred, a surrogate father figure. The Joker had no uplifting figure to guide him.

Batman took in Dick Grayson to become the first Robin. In doing so, he becomes a father figure. He essentially takes his late father’s role as his own. Robin was created, like Batman, to be an enduring character. Harley Quinn was created as the disposable sidekick to the Joker, who was also supposed to be a one-shot wonder. Like the Joker, Harley endured anyway. The Joker may have consciously meant to manipulate Harley, but he really seems to have taken her in as a surrogate for his late wife.

This is where the appearance note from earlier comes in. The Joker sometimes can be genuinely loving toward Harley. In these moments, the Joker sees her like he did his late wife. But then, like a flipped switch, the Joker beats and berates Harley. It seems as though the transference of his feelings from his late wife to Harley cannot be maintained due to the simple fact that they are two separate people. When this reality can no longer be ignored, the Joker punishes Harley for not being his late wife. The absence of a child who should have been born long ago makes the separation from reality even shorter-lived.

I can personally guarantee that I have many Harley fans up in arms right now. Mention anything about the abusive nature of Harley’s relationship with the Joker, and her hardcore fans will immediately go into denial. “You just don’t understand their relationship.” “Their love is just different, that’s all.” “He loves her, really. He’s just a little rough sometimes.” These fans often spout the same rationalizations that Harley does herself. Yet, the Joker is unquestionably abusive toward Harley.

I base my observations on the Harley/Joker relationship on my own experience with battered women. My mother has taught women’s self-defense classes often attended by the residents of battered shelters. During some of these classes, I was mom’s yuki (throwing dummy). We have had the occasional relative/family friend who has been abused. And being on work-for-welfare programs myself, I have had working relationships with many battered women. This is not to say that abuse is related to income or lack thereof, or even that all or most women on welfare are abused. What I am saying is that it comes to the surface more often among those with no appearances to keep.

I don’t believe that the Joker really loves Harley. I believe that he loves the idea of her, of having that surrogate for what he lost. Even if the Joker does love Harley, that fact alone would not preclude abuse, nor would it make the abuse okay. The Joker would need to confront the issues behind his abusive behavior BEFORE attempting to form a romantic relationship of any sort. He would be best off doing this through therapy as a single adult. An abuse victim cannot change their abuser from within the relationship. Their best bet is to leave, seek help, and once they reach a certain point in their own recovery they can form an intimate relationship with someone new. A former victim may forgive their former abuser, but they should never return to that abuser. At the very least, not in a romantic setting. In short, permanently breaking up the Joker/Harley relationship would be the healthiest thing for both of them as people (though it may not be the best character move for storytelling purposes).

We see Harley go through a battered spouse cycle quite often. According to the Batman TAS episode, Mad Love, the Joker was charming at first. The devolving of the relationship into an abusive state was gradual and easily rationalized away. He beats her and puts her down verbally on a regular basis. She claims to deserve it. She gets fed up. She leaves. She forms friendships that serve as a support network, i.e. Poison Ivy. She misses him. He acts sweet. She goes back. Rinse. Lather. Repeat. Either a defining moment will have to occur where she breaks this cycle and leaves him permanently, she will kill him, he will kill her, a suicide-homicide situation occurs to kill them both, or a freak accident kills one of them before any of the other options occur. There is no other possibility. If they were real people, they would not die of old age. They would no reconcile and live happily ever after.

This is where Harley becomes as important of a character to our current social landscape as Wonder Woman was in the 60’s, if not more. There are far too many misconceptions in our society regarding abuse and those who have endured it. A series in any media regarding Harley could address them all. We would see her in the abuse cycle, how she got into it, who she was before, who she is during, who she becomes after, who her abuser was before, who he is during, and how she can eventually break the cycle. Through her connections with others we could also see how men are also abused (an oft under-reported issue) and what happens to those who don’t break the cycle. The world needs that story.

Fantagraphics offered Uncle Scrooge and Donald Duck: A Matter of Some Gravity.

I didn’t notice the variant cover gimmick until I got home and I was separating the kid’s comics. My son had one version and my daughter had the other. A clever play on the title. Inside is a wonderful reprint (as that’s all Fantagrphics has the rights to with Disney) of a story featuring Magica De Spell. The art can get a little disorienting given the plot device, but it works well. It’s not a UFO, it is a JPDC! I’m not familiar with the Gladstone character, put he does prove to be funny.

Recommended.

Valiant also has Valiant Universe: Handbook 2014. It’s not a comic, but it is a handy guide to all of their titles.

Recommended.

Now for IDW’s VWars. Basically, an epidemic creates vampires. Chaos ensues. Standard art. The story is good. It is narrated by a folklore specialist cum presidential advisor. He recounts the start of the war. Tragic end. Very graphic on the violence. There is an outbreak map included as well as background files.

A recommended antidote to Twilight poisoning.

Epicenter Comics also had Entropy. The cover is certainly interesting. Interior depicts a dystopian future of divided social class and banned books. They also included the short, Vegetable. Nasty piece of work a la Twilight Zone. This brings us to Ciosses. The futility of vengeance is beautifully told in this tale of lost love.

Recommended.

I’ve never heard of 12- Gauge before. So let’s look at Sherwood, Texas. The cover art is just redundant. The map on the inside cover tells me that this is Robin Hood retold in the present American West. I prove to be right. The whole thing is set as a war between biker gangs. I’ve heard of the Boondock Saints, but I’ve never seen or read any of it. Not a fan.

Unsure of recommendation.

Viz Media/Haika Soru presents All You Need Is Kill. On the other side is Terra Formers by Viz Media/SIG. All You Need Is Kill has impressive artwork. Not enough impression of the ongoing story to want to pick it up. Terra Formers reads in the traditional manga manner, that is opposite page order from western comics. Very Japanese. Not my cup of tea.